CGBT Monday!

OMG! So Classic-Girly-Bold-Trendy Friday will now appear on random days of the week. Just trying to stay above water here.

I hope to soon add these sunnies or maybe these to my collection. I have been wanting Cat Eye sunglasses for about a year but I delayed the purchase in favor of buying a classic pair of Chanel's that had been my teenage dream!

Here goes what I have been crushing on (under 100 dollars) that is. :) 

Classic:

Year ago I would have thought only a soccer mom would wear this but the Chambray and shape of this jacket make this classic new again.

Get in on Piperlime

Girly: 

Love the color of this skirt and the shape. Enuf said. 

Get it HERE! 

Bold:

By now you must have realized that shoes is where I have very few fears, but after purchasing a pair of painful heels a few weeks ago. I had shoe pain PTSD. Thus I saw these and thought, "those look like they may hurt" but alas it doesnt hurt to look and admire over the internet. Sigh

Check them out at Nine West! 

Trendy:

Mint Green/Pistachio Green is everywhere, I gave in to this one from Old Navy. It had pleats. So adorable

What are you crushing on this week? 

Talk to you soon.

xoxo

Betsy 

The Power of Many

Eastside Career Chic in Office A La Mode

I have some exciting news to share!  These past few days have just been great as I was fortunate enough to contribute to one of my favorites sites, The Daily Muse not once but twice! After that I was asked to contribute to another site I love that focuses on Empowering Latinas-New Latina. For someone who a few months ago just dreamed of being a writer this is a HUGE accomplishment.  I titled this post the power of many because so many of you have emailed me or mentioned that you have read my blog posts. Others of you have given me helpful feedback and assured me that this blog is a good idea. I thank you for everything!

I am also happy to report that my colleagues and I started a blog a few weeks ago and it has just been oodles of fun! After months of complimenting each others outfits we decided to start putting it out there for the world to see. We realized that we love our fashion bloggers but we just cannot imagine posting outfits on a daily basis like they do and besides our blog will have something for everyone as our styles and body types vary. I will be posting outfits in Office A La Mode every Tuesday. Here goes our contribution to the fashion blogging world. 

I can't wait to see where this goes.

Welcome to Office A La Mode! Click HERE to see more.

xoxo
Betsy Aime

Eastside Career Chic: In the Daily Muse-Bloggers I LOVE!

Last week, the Glitterati of the fashion world traveled to New York City for the most important time of the year: Fashion Week! It’s hard not to love the extravaganza that the week brings, but truth is, most of us can’t come close to affording those designer labels. Let alone show up to our weekly staff meetings wearing looks straight from the runway!

Luckily, we have fashion bloggers—the talented, creative, and super-stylish women that help us adapt high-fashion looks to something appropriate for the cubicle lifestyle (including our very own corporate attire experts, Cubicle Chic!). Get out of your black slacks and a button-up rut and get some workday inspiration with this list of our favorite office-appropriate fashion bloggers:

Read the rest of this article by visiting:
The Daily Muse

My Feminine Mystique...

One afternoon, I sat in my living room and looked around at my belongings. There was the large cabinet that held souvenirs from my adventures working on Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. There was my book collection (organized by size and color), the college degree I had worked so hard to obtain, and a display of carefully selected photos with my friends and loved ones.

But as I stared at all these objects, the symbols that represented the life I had created for myself, I sobbed inconsolably. From the corner of my eye, I could see a hardcover copy of Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique. I recalled Friedan’s writing about the unhappiness that plagued middle-class women of the 1950s and 60s. I never thought I would relate to these women, who, on the surface seemed content, yet upon closer inspection, were miserable. Friedan called it “the problem which has no name.”

I knew I had a problem, but unlike the one Friedan wrote about, mine did have a name: depression.

Read this article in its entirety by visiting The Daily Muse

Self Help for Skeptics

I have recently started seeing a new therapist/life coach. Yes, she’s expensive. Yes, she’s worth it!  This week we were discussing my shopping addiction which is exemplified on several blog posts, like this one. We were talking about the giddy feelings I get when I buy myself something pretty, and she said that maybe I should create a personal mission statement and that I should reference it before I purchase something to make sure it fits into what I want in life. Personal mission statement? Yeah that’s for nerds and optimists. 

That made recall a training I did a few years ago where I went through a series of exercises that led me to create a mission statement but back then I secretly scoffed at the idea as it sounded like something people who take themselves seriously would do and I am not that kind of gal. I reviewed the mission statement I wrote on that day and clearly much has changed in the past 2 years. Not only this time rather than being skeptical I was kind of excited about developing a mission statement, probably because I have now embraced my inner self-help nerd. 

I started doing research and I was relieved that others have already written eloquently on the subject!  Classy Career Girl, Anna Runyan explains that her mission statement helps her keep track of what she wants to achieve with her blog. She's awesome and I loved this mission statement she shared so much that I featured the image on my blog (see above) Your personal mission statement then will help you keep track of what you want in life. I started working on my own mission statement and relating it back to what my therapist said, that I should make it a tool to keep in the back of mind whenever i’m making small or large decisions. I love writing about myself in 3^rd person! Here goes my first attempt:

To live without fear, pursue my passions, embrace my personal style, achieve the ideal work-life balance, meet my spiritual and health needs, while creating financial stability that will alleviate stress in my middle age.

Here’s what I found out about myself in this short exercise:

• Financial stability- Is important –NOW, I used to pride myself on not caring about money, I have realized that money gives you options and I want more time to do all the things I cannot afford to do now like travel and shower my family and friends with nice gifts. Oh and boring stuff like retirement. 
• Personal Style-I should ask myself next time I buy a pair of shoes if they are indeed helping me embrace personal style or just a momentary desire that will only hinder my ability to meet my other goals.
• Work-Life Balance- I never thought this was an issue until I realized that working 10 hour days is no way to enjoy life.
• Spiritual and Health Needs-Again things I didn’t care about at 21, F*ck i’m old.
• Pursuing my Passions- This blog is one step in that direction. Never thoughts writing would be a hobby. I had to have a breakdown (see work-life balance or lack thereof) to finally start looking for a creative outlet. 

Clearly I have changed my mind on the personal mission statement. However, I am still on the trajectory to embrace other useful tools that are meant to help map out the road to achieving the lives we want to lead. Check out this book for more exercises to help guide you and this great quote from said book:

"Some people don't just live: they lead a life. They don't sit around waiting for a lucky break. They create opportunities. They go after their dreams and bring them to life….

Why does this matter? Because we only live once silly. So do like the ill-fated lovers on the Titanic, and make each day count!

What’s your personal statement? Try to write one, I promise it's easy and you may learn something about yourself!

If you liked this post PLEASE comment, subscribe or follow me on (the) twitter @betsyaimee.

XOXO

Betsy Aimee.

CGBT Friday/Saturday

There has been inspiration OVERLOAD this week with NYFW and IFB (Ind. Fashion Blogger) Conference. The internets have buzzing with all the looks and some of my favorite bloggers have been reporting from the scene of it all in NYC. On week like this I am constantly discovering new blogs that I love and that is by far one of the best things that has occurred since I started my own blogging adventure.

Here are my favorite  CGBT (Classic +Girly+Bold+Trendy) pieces. These are all under 100.00 (Ok, almost all of them) and would make for one fabulous wear-to-work outfit!  I am so excited that I came up with this formula as it is truly helping get dressed every morning. Have you figured out your style formula yet? 

Classic:

I got my March issue of Lucky Magazine which included a feature titled: I Love My White Blazer. The white blazer was styled in a variety of ways and it really is an almost timeless piece that I had been overlooking. You can get a bargain blazer for only 25.00 bucks! from Forever 21 (Get it HERE). However, I will advocate for spending a little extra to get a great fit. This one is from Asos.com, priced just over 100.00 and has "power shoulders"-Sounds like something any gal could use at the office. 

Girly: 

This old navy dress has adorable polka dots and ultra girly sleeves. Get it HERE for under 40.00 dollars Swoon.. Jessica Quirk from What I Wore styled this with leopard pumps and pulled off a "quirky" yet fabulous look! 

Bold:

I am definitely a fan of making a statement with jewelry. Arden B has beautiful party-like jewelry that doesnt break the bank. I own this in white/silver! This is a great statement piece for under 50 bucks. Get it HERE. If you really want to go crazy maybe you could layer them with a few smaller pieces like this one and this one.  I just discovered Wonder Girl and the creative mind behind it, Tara and I just love the way she wears necklaces and will definitely look to her for inspiration in the near future! She just did a feature on The Glitter Guide on how to layer necklaces, she just piles it on and isn't afraid to be bold. 

Trendy: 

Love me some Coral Shoes. These platform pumps are from Target for the bargain price of 29.99(Get them HERE). I loved these so much I ordered them for myself. 

These Payless wedges are just attention getters (Get them HERE) and are perfect for Spring.

I can't wait to see what lovely things I find next week.

Thanks for stopping by! 

What are you loving this week? 

The Facebook Dilemma

Career blogs and sites were buzzing last week with the announcement that Facebook was going public.  The technical term for this that you may have heard is IPO, which stands for initial public offering. In the official documents that were submitted to the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission Facebook reports that it has 1.7 Billion likes and comments every day.  

I don’t think we need scientific data to prove to us that a large majority of these users are women and that it is women who are commenting, liking and uploading photos over 250 million photos on the site every day.  I am not trying to stereotype but it’s mostly my female friends that are constantly updating me on their whereabouts, and showing me photos of their weekend adventures. Luckily, I am not making this up and a recent study revealed women have an average of 55% more wall posts than men.This means then that a significant portion of the Facebook’s revenue comes from advertising targeted for women.

However, when it came time to select the Board of Directors somehow women were not selected to serve. The story became even bigger because Facebook’s COO, Sheryl Sandberg has frequently spoken about the need for more female representation on Boards and in high powered executive positions, she delivered one of the best Ted Talks of 2011, which I wrote about last year, where she described the “ambition gap” which according to her is preventing many women from breaking the remaining glass ceilings.  So without a doubt one wonders what kind of a role she played in selecting the board of directors and if she had no role in the process, we wonder if she called out her 27 year old boss Mark Zuckerberg for the major oversight.  One wonders if they looked around and couldn’t think of anyone. Odd since according to recent data presented in a recent Bloomberg News article, only 11.3 of boards in America are exclusively male. This same article also cited a recent survey which states that diverse boards result in more profitable companies.

Read the whole article here: No Women on Facebook Board Shows White Male Influence

This is yet another example of women’s purchasing power being ignored and yet another example of women not doing anything about it. Of course, in a perfect world we would all de-activate our bookfaces in protest. But even as I have that revolutionary thought I wonder if this matters to women? Do we really need women on boards to represent us? What would the world look like if women were equally represented on board? Is there an ambition gap or are there legitimate barriers preventing women from reaching the top?  I will let you all make up your own minds

A new campaign called, 20% By 2020 hopes to rally women from across the country with the goal of increasing the percentage of women on U.S. company boards to 20% or greater by the year 2020. They wrote Mr. Zuckerberg a letter last week in response to their board’s lack of diversity.

Here’s my favorite phrase:

“Maybe your board thinks that because women are so busy socializing on Facebook they're too busy to achieve the necessary credentials for board service.”

The feminist nerd in me was fascinated by this organization and their cool site which gives information on why corporate boards matter to all of us and how we can help ensure diverse representation. Check it out! http://www.2020wob.com/

I think the fact that we are even noticing that absence of women is a step in the right direction. Now let’s figure out how to get women and racial minorities on board with boards! Get it?

Happy Monday

Xoxo

Betsy Aimee

CGBT Friday!

Last week I told you that I had mastered my style formula- CGBT. Each outfit consists of something
Classic+Girly+Bold+Trendy!

Here's my favorite under 100.00 dollars CGBT items for this week. I'm particulary excited about Jason Wu this Sunday! How about you? Happy Weekend.

Classic

This A-line white dress is so lady-like and flattering for any figure. I love the cinched waist and the lace underlay this is exactly what I am craving this Spring. I know this style flatters me and you should know what flatters your shape too! You can get this for 59.99 on Sunday on Target.com. I can't wait

Girly

It doesnt get more girly than a doily necklace. Get this at Forever 21 for less than 10 dollars! 

Bold

Yeah these shoes are kind of crazy don't judge! You know you want them too! They come in 3 colors. From Jessica Simpson 98.00 dollars

Trendy

I'm on the neon kick right now and this is just what the Dr. ordered. Hints of neon work best with this classic dress. Get it on Asos.com for 44.76

PS- This could be an outfit too!

xoxo 

Betsy